Frenchman almost takes shocking Giro win - Who was it that finished behind Pedersen, van Aert and Del Toro at Monte Berico?

The explosive finish at Monte Berico is one that has gained quite a lot of popularity over recent years at the Giro d'Italia and it always delivers a spectacular finale. Few would've expected that behind Mads Pedersen, Wout van Aert and Isaac del Toro; it wasn't either a GC rider or sprinter that finished behind, but instead Rémy Rochas.

Groupama - FDJ have been having a very complicated Giro, with their designated GC leader David Gaudu not coming in with good form, and during the first week he suffered a crash that saw him with a nasty hand injury that further pushed him back. He has in the meantime given up on a potential GC result.

On stage 8, Enzo Paleni was part of the day's breakaway, and together with Taco van der Hoorn, was close to breaking the sprinters' hearts in Napoli. But the duo was authentically blocked on the road by protestors in what was one of the race's most shocking events thus far.

The French team has been otherwise rather absent from the race, but if it wasn't for the presence of some of the world's very best on their prime form, they could've taken a shock win on stage 13. "I felt pretty good, but when INEOS Grenadiers attacked on the first climb, I wasn't in a great position. I tried to plug the gaps and got a real backlash. I even told the guys I wasn't feeling well and that I was going to work for them. Then we got to the final climb, things were immediately better, and I tried to position myself as well as I could," Rochas said in a post-race interview.

Mads Pedersen sprinted to victory ahead of Wout van Aert, Isaac del Toro dropped the GC contenders to gain a few more seconds, and ahead of the likes of Primoz Roglic, Juan Ayuso or Antonio Tiberi was Rochas who led the main group to the line.

"I tried to anticipate the sprint by going into the wind at my own pace because I didn't want to be cut off in my momentum," the 29-year recalled. "It was a very, very tough finish. I had watched all the stages of the Giro before coming, and I thought this could be a good opportunity for me to express myself. It's an effort that suits me well, and I'm pretty happy to finish fourth. I couldn't have hoped for much better with the three guys up front."